P.O. Box
2068 Ormond Beach, FL 32175 (386)
677-7314
Terms of Sale
updated 14 March 2008
please
read this page each time before ordering ANYTHING from us
Please don't get
insulted or intimidated by our "no-nonsense style" or
"attitude"
There is a very good reason for every speck of information on this page
and
we are really trying hard to avoid misunderstandings and misconceptions
between ourselves and our (potential) customers. . . please feel free
to email us if you have questions not specifically addressed here
General
Information:
- All post-1898 firearms purchased must
be shipped via U.P.S. to a
Federally licensed firearms dealer or C&R collector with a Class 03
FFL that is ALREADY ON FILE with us,
with payment provided via credit-card. We no longer ship anything
C.O.D. or allow anyone to pick up firearms at our office
(due to restrictive local ordinances).
- A
dealer-FFL or C&R license MUST BE on-file with us ALREADY before we
will accept any order for a SPECIFIC firearm
FFL's can
now be FAXED to us at (386) 677-7324! Please be
absolutely certain to [A]
SIGN the copy first, and [B]
use the FINE or SUPER-FINE setting on your FAX machine
(NOT the PHOTO setting) so the FFL number
and expiration-date is clear and legible when we receive it on our
end. -
We will also accept scanned
and emailed copies of FFL's (sent to kroh@empirearms.com).
- It
is a very good idea to send us a signed copy of your (or
your local transfer dealer's) FFL in advance for our
files to avoid missing out on the item you may want. This is S.O.P.
in the industry.
- For "tips" on finding a decent and
affordable local dealer to transfer your firearm, click HERE.
Please
do this if you do not have your own FFL!
EMPIRE ARMS are members in good standing of
the Better Business Bureau
(click on the image above for confirmation)
- We do not "do" TRADES...
we prefer to buy stuff (that we have personally seen) and
sell stuff, but we don't trade stuff we know for other
items we have not seen. If the item in question was originally
purchased from us and you have taken good care of it we will allow
at least 80% of
the purchase-price as payment for a higher-priced firearm (depending on
our inventory needs at the time) and we will
likely be interested in buying it back from you for CASH as well.
- We ONLY deal in military firearms of the
World (something that would have ACTUALLY been issued to a soldier of any country), so
please don't offer us commercial guns (like shotguns or 22's) or ask us questions about
them... we frankly don't know very much (or care) at all about commercially-made
firearms.
- EMPIRE
ARMS is
CLOSED ON MONDAYS (this is when
we try to get our book-work caught-up) and from mid-day nearly every Friday through
Sunday as we are usually away attending
gun-shows around the country (or spending time with our families) on weekends. We therefore (usually)
only ship firearms orders Tuesday through Thursdays and ship accessory
and
book orders on Thursdays only.
- Click HERE
for our complete up to date office schedule.
- We
ABSOLUTELY GUARANTEE
that any firearm purchased from
EMPIRE ARMS has authentic original markings and is correctly attributed.
Ordering
information:
We keep
all of our web-pages totally up to date in "real time" and everything
listed on them NOT marked as SOLD is very likely still available at this very minute.
- All items marked SOLD have been
paid for and
likely shipped already. We almost never get anything
sent back (and our transactions very seldom
"fall-through" either).
- We will NOT accept an order
for any individually-listed item (whether it requires a FFL or not)
without immediate payment via Credit Card and a current FFL on file.
- We will not HOLD
anything pending arrival of paperwork or payment UNLESS
that paperwork and/or payment is sent OVERNIGHT (via Express Mail, UPS
Next Day Air, or Federal Express). No exceptions!
Yes, we realize that is likely
inconvenient for first-time orders, but once the FFL is on-file with us
subsequent orders will be a breeze. The U.S. Post Office always takes
longer than you think it will if you send paperwork to us via regular mail
(allow at least a week).
- EMPIRE ARMS is MUCH different than other
dealers in that
as they are easier to keep track of,
especially if we are out of the office (which frequently occurs, as due
to the very nature of our business we MUST travel in order to purchase
anything we offer for sale). Please
phone us only if you have
a question (or series of questions) that cannot be easily
answered via e-mail, and THEN please
send us your detailed order via e-mail, FAX or snail-mail
confirmation. We DO answer and confirm ALL of
the e-mail ORDERS we get, but often it may take several
days so please be patient.
- Please do not send us
emails with attachments,
as we will likely never receive them due to the ongoing threat of viruses.
- We will CANCEL
any order placed by e-mail from an
invalid or bogus e-mail address or that has incomplete ordering information
(what you want, who
you are, where
you live, and how you intend to
pay must all be spelled-out every time).
- A PHONE ORDER
ALONE (or one left on our answering machine) is NOT
sufficient and WILL NOT be processed without physical
confirmation via e-mail, FAX or letter.
- PLEASE
between 4 PM and 7 PM
Eastern Time
(no matter WHAT the reason)
as we are always frantically busting our asses during this period making sure UPS gets the stuff everybody
else ordered sent out to them in a timely manner. If you do call during
that time you will be (politely, I hope) asked to call back later or
(preferably) email
your query.
-
When ORDERING
an item
by e-mail or FAX remember that the magic phrase
gets priority over any other
message. Please be
very
clear on WHICH item you desire,
WHO you
are, WHERE you live (we have many
customers with the same name), and HOW you intend to close the
deal.
some
graphic examples:
ACCEPTABLE:
"I
WANT the Y2K number 12345 from your new list. I don't
have an FFL but my buddy at BIG GUNS here in town has already sent
you a copy of his FFL and I want to put this purchase on my VISA card XXXX
XXXX XXXX XXXX expires XX/XX.
Thanks, Joe Blow, 678 Main St, Anywhere USA, phone (555)
987-6543"
or
"You
have my C&R FFL and credit-card number on file. Ship
me 200 rounds of that wonderful 7.5 Swiss ammo that you just listed. Alphonse
Capone, Chicago"
NOT
ACCEPTABLE:
"I'm kinda
interested in that there Enfield. Is it available?
M.L."
or the
classic "I
would take the Mauser if you answer a couple questions
about it. Call me ASAP. Bob." (WHO are you? WHICH Mauser? HOW
can we call when you left no phone number? Do you even
REALIZE how common the name "Bob" is?)... sheesh!
Both of the latter not acceptable examples noted above are
e-mails we have actually received in the recent past. If you
send us such a message, nothing
will be SOLD to you until we receive more information
about you, which item SPECIFICALLY you want and a commitment to purchase it on your part
(with payment and
shipping details provided). You also stand a very good chance of
"losing" that item to someone else in the interim while we are
playing e-mail or phone "tag".
Also, realize up-front that WE
DON'T "HAGGLE" ON PRICES! If you contact us
trying to get a "better deal" on an item we offer for sale. . . even if you say
"I WANT IT" nothing will be
set aside for you until
you agree to purchase it in a timely manner at the price listed.
We
will ABSOLUTELY NOT consider counter-offers!
- When sending
payment or a FFL in conjunction with an order PLEASE enclose a note
indicating EXACTLY WHAT AND FOR WHOM THE
PAYMENT IS FOR (this
should be obvious, but we get money-orders "out of the blue" quite
frequently with no name on them and we often have no idea
what they are for or who they are from).
- We receive fifty to one hundred or
more FFL's in the mail each day... if A
NOTE WITH YOUR NAME AND WHAT YOU ARE ORDERING is not attached to your
C&R or your transfer-dealer's FFL,
there is almost no way we are going to know it is for
your order and not just a routine copy for our files and
a delay will certainly result and you may even LOSE
that item to someone else. Please also supply your phone number
and (especially) your EMAIL address with your FFL.
- Please also make CERTAIN that the
signed FFL photocopy you or your dealer mails us is
legible (unfortunately quite a few of the ones we
receive are hard to decipher, which can cause delays and,
needless to say, confusion). Also be certain that the FFL is signed in
INK and
done so in the proper place (above the line under which is printed
ORIGINAL SIGNATURE OF LICENSEE) otherwise it is not valid.
- We do not
do LAY-AWAYS, sorry, please don't ask (we don't have
the room to store them). However, we do accept Visa,
MasterCard & Discover Cards with no fee (and you can pay THEM
over time if you wish while enjoying your
purchase). We also accept American Express, but
they usually require you to pay off everything at the end
of each month... bummer!
- The UPS tracking #
of your parcel will be supplied to you upon request (this
is done automatically
for all orders made via e-mail). We will need your e-mail
address, however (if you FAX or MAIL your order,
please remember to furnish your E-MAIL address as well).
- If you are not going to be home when
the parcel is expected we can ship UPS HOLD FOR PICKUP but only if we have a daytime
phone-number for you (and know this in advance).
- We
will NOT ship firearms
to any address not specifically listed on your FFL. We realize
that this may be
an inconvenience for those who work during the day, but you CAN change
your "mailing address" on your license to your work address (in
which case we will ship to you there after the change has been made).
- If
you re-route the package for your convenience (such as having
UPS deliver it to your workplace because you are not home during the day) we
will charge you $20 ADDITIONAL because we also get charged for
all "address corrections" by UPS even though it is not our fault
and beyond our control.
- All ordered but
unclaimed items will become the property of Empire Arms
after 90 days, whether paid for or not.
We
ONLY ship our merchandise via 
If
that is not acceptable, please don't order from us.
We sent buyers an email containing UPS tracking info
Shipping
and insurance charges:
We only
charge *EXACTLY* whatever UPS charges us to ship an item from us to you.
We *NEVER* charge for "packing" or "handling" or for
packing-materials.
Below is APPROXIMATELY what charges will be incurred,
however we will only charge you EXACTLY what we have to pay UPS (and not a penny
more):
Note: This includes
"ADULT SIGNATURE REQUIRED" which is required by Federal Law for
shipments of all firearms (CFR 178.31d), which adds $2.75 to the basic shipping
fee (and makes sense anyway, as nobody wants a firearm "dropped"
off at your doorstep where anyone can make off with it).
FIRST
HANDGUN:
$42.00 if
UPS NEXT DAY AIR SAVER service is available to your city.
$50.00 if the SAVER service is NOT available in
your (usually rural) area and must be shipped regular NEXT DAY AIR
ADD $3.00 for
RESIDENCE (as opposed to business) addresses
ADD $8.00 to the
above for destinations West of the Mississippi (except Texas)
ADDITIONAL
HANDGUNS:
$8.00 for second, $6.00
for each additional handgun in the same parcel.
FIRST
RIFLE:
$17.50 to business address, East of
Mississippi
$21.00 to business address, West of
Mississippi
$19.50
to residence address, East of Mississippi
$23.00 to residence address, West of
Mississippi (except Texas)
ADDITIONAL
RIFLES:
$9.00 for second, $7.00
for each additional in the same parcel (up to five in each parcel).
- ADD $30 additional
per order
for firearms delivery to Hawaii and Alaskan
addresses (sorry,
folks, but as you are aware no UPS ground delivery is available from us to
you).
- BOOKS & (soon)
ACCESSORIES: Shipping on this stuff is approximated by our
"shopping-cart" program. Minimum shipping:
$5.00. If it
turns out to be less than calculated by the shopping-cart
program we will (obviously) charge you less. We ship books
and accessory orders on Thursdays only.
- A $20.00 service charge will
apply after the sale if the customer requests that UPS re-route any parcel
we ship to another address for delivery (we actually get financially penalized by UPS if
you do that).
- We no longer sell ammunition
at all.
Delivery times:
Payment
information:
-
FULL PAYMENT
must be made in advance by Credit Card (for firearms), Money Order or Personal Check
(for non-firearms) before we will ship (2 weeks to clear only
for those who do not have their personal or company dealer or C&R FFL on file with us).
We do not do "lay-aways" at all!
Sorry,
don't ask. This is not negotiable!
- Visa, MasterCard, American Express
and Discover cards are also accepted (no surcharge). Get instructions
on how to safely e-mail this information to us by
clicking HERE. If ordering only books (and, one of these days,
accessories) our shopping-cart program has an encrypted
secure-server so you can email that info directly. Note
that if you have ordered from us before, you can utilize
the same card by mentioning in your message "please
charge this to my credit-card on file". Note that
this statement is required before we can use your card
again for the current and next purchase.
Sales Tax:
- Florida residents must add
applicable state and local sales tax unless purchased for
resale and a signed copy of your resale
certificate for 2008 is already on file with
us. We are not (yet) required to collect sales tax for residents of
other states besides Florida, so we don't.
Sales PROHIBITED
or RESTRICTED (due to peculiar and usually idiotic
state or local laws) to
residents of the following states and locales:
- CALIFORNIA:
Empire Arms will no longer sell non-C&R handguns to
ANYONE in California. . . PERIOD! All C&R handguns *MUST* be
shipped overnight to a dealer in California. C&R rifles must actually be dated
1957 or before (or the manufacture of that model must
have completely ceased before 1958) in order for us to sell &
ship a rifle directly to a C&R licensee located in California
(even if that firearm is specifically listed on the ATF C&R list).
If you don't like it, MOVE! (vote with your FEET like we did)
- DISTRICT
of COLUMBIA: No sales of firearms,
ammunition, or firearm magazines at all to anyone.
- ILLINOIS
residents must supply us with a copy of their FOID card before we can ship
them C&R long arms. All
concealable C&R firearms (handguns) must be shipped to dealers only, no firearms sales at all to residents of Chicago or Cook County.
- MARYLAND:
No modern handguns sold to
anyone, dealer or not (they must be C&R eligible). All rifles (except
MD-defined "assault-weapons") are acceptable.
- MASSACHUSETTS:
No high-capacity magazines
allowed. C&R licensees must supply us with a copy of their MA "License to
Carry" (those can be FAXED or their image transmitted by email).
The only
handguns we can ship to a Class 1 (dealer) FFL to transfer to a
non-licensee in Massachusetts must comply with THESE
(2003) regulations.
- NEW JERSEY: All
firearms including long-guns, antiques & all magazines capable of
holding more than 15 rounds sold to dealers only.
- NEW
YORK: all
concealable C&R firearms must be shipped to dealers only. All NY
residents, whether C&R licensees or not, have to get each particular
handgun added by serial-number to their NY handgun permit before purchase
or transfer from in-state dealer can commence.
No non-C&R handguns can be shipped to anyone, dealer or not, in NY (they must be
C&R eligible).
Empire
Arms GRADING
standards:
- First off, we HANDPICK
each and every firearm that we offer from the finest
available anywhere. We generally do not buy ANYTHING "blind" and absolutely do not buy junk (no
matter how "cheap" it is). Whatever you
order from us will likely be MUCH better quality than you could obtain
elsewhere as that is and always has been our goal. Not braggin'...
just a fact!
- We utilize "plain
English" in our descriptions
rather than endless words of praise, and try to be very
fair and frank with our appraisal of condition. We
know that you don't like unpleasant surprises any more
than we do (and we have had more than our
share). Over 90% of our customers
think we actually undergrade our
stuff, but we simply grade our stuff like we would like it graded if we were the buyers.
Our satisfaction-ratio
is way over 99%, so we must be doing something right (unfortunately
there are some very picky and anal people in this World with
unrealistic expectations that cannot be satisfied no
matter what).
- Virtually all military
firearms we sell have been used
for their intended purpose (otherwise they
would not really be collectable or interesting),
and therefore they should
be expected to have some handling and storage marks on
the wood and some wear on the blued parts from use.
If it is severe, we will say so... if it is perfect, we
will mention that too.
Please don't get "scared away" if
we graphically describe minor flaws like scratches or
gouges... when put in writing it usually just makes them
sound much worse than they really are.
Remember, virtually no other dealer mentions any possible
flaws at all, so when we do we are just being honest.
- We usually describe
the metal-finish of our firearms by using a percentage
system. 98% bluing means just that, but it also means
about 2% of the bluing is NOT going to be perfect and may
even be worn or faded (usually just on the corners and
edges, and likely on the magazine floorplate from normal carry). 80%
still means it's going to be quite nice, and 20% indicates
that it's going to look like it is actually a
military-surplus firearm. {;^>}
- We do not refinish
anything that we sell, but we usually clean off the
cosmoline, tape, filth, etc. before we ship it to you
(unless you ask us not to). We also check the HEADSPACE
of ALL rifles before we buy them and if the headspace
is excessive (bolt closes on a "field" gauge)
we will certainly mention it in the description if we buy
it at all (we probably wouldn't buy it).
- Nearly everything we
sell is properly import-marked according to current
regulations, and if it is not import-marked then we will
certainly mention it in the description.
- We do not warrantee
the accuracy or shootability of any firearm, as a lot of
that depends on your personal abilities. We do
guarantee that they will be properly attributed and
described and complete in working condition unless noted
otherwise, but that is all.
Returns:
- 3-day inspection period allowed (of
course) from time of delivery to destination. We very
rarely get anything returned (much less than 1/10th of 1%).
- Your satisfaction is
guaranteed and greatly desired by us at EMPIRE ARMS!
- You may return anything ordered from
us for any reason (or even none at all) as long as you get an
authorization from us first within three days of delivery
(we will refuse all unauthorized
returns, and all requests for return after three days have passed since
delivery by UPS to you or your transfer-dealer).
- We
will NOT accept the return of ANY weapon that has been fired by the
purchaser.
- We pride ourselves on the
accuracy of our descriptions, so please read
them thoroughly before ordering to avoid any confusion,
and feel free to e-mail or (if you have a LOT of questions)
call
us with any specific questions you may
have in order to avoid any potential problems or
misunderstandings.
- A 3.5%
restocking fee is charged for all returns
refunded to a credit-card. This is to recoup the fees charged to us
by your credit-card company when you ordered the item (as we don't get
those back when we run a credit through).
- If the item arrives at its destination
DAMAGED, well... we certainly didn't send it that
way! No
matter how well we package items (and we are damned good at it) delivery
personnel can always find a
new and novel way to break, crack or generally smash stuff up (this rarely happens, but it
does happen every once in awhile).
Everything we ship is fully insured, so call UPS as soon as possible and lets get a claim
started rather than ranting & raving at us about it. This is
what insurance is for.
Order
Cancellations:
- We know that "stuff happens" occasionally and the funds one maybe thought
they had or could "stretch" sometimes just
doesn't co-operate. If you have to cancel an order you
have placed with us before we have shipped it, we will try to be
very understanding, ONCE!
Repeat offenders
will be politely asked to go be a pain in
somebody else's ass.
Antique guns & ammunition
sales:
- We do not ship
firearms outside of the continental United
States. (I know, we said
that already, but not a week goes by when we don't get a firearm order from
someone who lives in Canada or elsewhere)
- It is our policy not
to sell pre-1899 Antique rifles or handguns to convicted felons, minors, fugitives
from justice, illegal aliens, drug addicts, alcoholics,
or mentally defective individuals. By ordering such
items from us you represent that you do not fit into any
of those classifications. If antique guns are
shipped to you, you are responsible for complying with
all applicable state and local laws (for instance, even antique firearms still
require a FFL in the state of NJ).
Want
Lists:
- We encourage you to let
us know what specific items you are looking for, and we are EXPERTS at
finding hard to find stuff. Click HERE for the online form and clear instructions on how to do this.
Buying:
- We are VERY AGGRESSIVE BUYERS and will generally pay more for nicer
non-common military firearms than any other
dealer (and will most likely pay more than you could
obtain for it even if you
worked real hard at it). We have a very
strong following and maintain want-lists of
literally hundreds of items that our customers are
seeking. If you have some items in our field of
interest that you are tired of or no longer utilize
regularly, please get in contact with us. We also pay
handsome FINDER'S FEES to folks who steer
successful large deals our way.
Our
PRIVACY POLICY:
- Any information you supply to EMPIRE ARMS is kept both secure and confidential. We will not sell or
rent any information about our customers to anyone, period.
MOST IMPORTANT!
We have an E-MAILING LIST
which will get you all new items we acquire (as well as much
other useful information not available elsewhere), e-mailed to
you 24 hours in
ADVANCE of the general public. To sign up, click
HERE
Now that you
are finished reading our Terms of Sale, hopefully you now have a
rather clear understanding of what you can expect from us and
what we do expect of you, so click your browser's <BACK> button to go back to
where you were or ...
Go back to the Empire Arms Home Page
EMPIRE ARMS . . . PO Box 2068 . . . Ormond Beach, FL
32175
Phone (386) 677-7314 . . . . FAX (386) 677-7324
For ,
comments or suggestions, email us at kroh@empirearms.com
